Illumination Special Projects | Gaia
“A Long Ceremony to Feed the Earth”
Poems for Gaia
We live on a beautiful planet that we often take for granted. It’s unfortunate that we have chosen a relationship where we constantly take from Gaia, instead of giving back.
I write a lot of poetry and nature is one of my favorite topics.
When I think about giving back to the planet, I think about compost, the dark messy rotting composition, full of worms, working their magic. Worms eat all the veggie peelings and scraps you put in your bin and their castings (a polite way to say worm poo) is essential manure that feeds the earth.
The phrase ‘feed the earth’ always reminds me of this quote from Into the Heart of the Country by Pauline Holdstock:
“And I see all the world of people for what it is. A long ceremony to feed the Earth.
We dance on it, feed on it, walk on it, and hunt and shit and love on it. And then we die upon it letting our flesh add to its’ crust so that new things can crawl there and dig and nest. It is not a hard thing.”
- Disclaimer — the above quote came from my notebook of ‘quotes that I’ve loved’ and so I can’t attest to its absolute accuracy.
The Fibonacci numbers or Golden Ratio are a pattern frequently found in nature.
They are a series of numbers where each number is the sum of the previous two numbers in the sequence. For example 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21, 34, 55. This sequence continues into eternity.
I’m fascinated with numbers and logic so this concept, applied to nature appeals to me even more.
I wrote this poem about the underlying math of things.
For a delightful explanation of the Fibonacci Numbers, here’s a short video where Hank introduces us to the most beautiful numbers in nature.
The Gaia Project is the brainchild of Dr John Rose. He was inspired to create a place where we can come to talk about solutions to support our beautiful planet.
This initiative brings together writers and readers who are involved in community projects focused on improving their local environment.
Working together is how we find a way out of the mess we’re in.
The tattered basho leaves ( banana tree leaves) are named for the great haiku poet Matsuo Basho who loved the sound made by the large, fragile leaves which tear in the autumn wind and rain
When you are alone in the woods Waldeinsmkeit describes the feeling of solitude in nature.
German is a fascinating language. I took a couple of years in high school. A lot of words are compound words and this is one of them: “wald” meaning forest, and “einsamkeit” meaning loneliness or solitude.
This haiku is one of a series about words that don’t directly translate into English.
Here’s the beginning of the project.
I’m happy to make this small contribution to the ongoing conversation about the Gaia Project.
I invite you to read and share so more writers are inspired to join us.
I’m tagging you here because you are part of the project or you might be interested in chiming in. If you don’t want to be tagged in a future post, shoot me a comment and I’ll be happy to remove you.
Tom Elliott, Josipa Shimich, Maryam Merchant, Faeren Zoa, Sahba Sanai, Rahul Haripriya, Vaidehi, Will McCulloch, Claude BeesBuzz, Eli Snow, Daniel G. Clark, Eashan Reddy Kotha, Paroma Sen, Keno Ogbo, James G Brennan Uchechi Obasi, Timothy Key, Holly Jahangiri, Alison Tennent, Dr John Rose, Joe Luca, Charlotte Zobeir Ali, Infiniti, Kathryn A. LeRoy, Ph.D. Earnest Painter, Eeva Metssalu, Terrinia Tells, Adiba Abid, Sumeet, Med Singa, Susan Kehoe, Karan Veera, AHK, Ana, Susan Kehoe, Mohit S, Rose Malana, Papa Moryba Kouate, Lokajit, Harshal, Adam Smith, Samantha Kannan, Vishnu Aravindhan, Jade Scarfone, Adam Murauskas, Claire Michaeljohn, Natasha Piggott, Millenial Nerd, Gina Pacelli, Annette Miller, Desireedriesenaar
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